Systems and methods to dynamically provision subscribers in a network

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods to dynamically provision subscribers in a network are disclosed herein. A example method to provision a subscriber in a communication network includes detecting that a location of the subscriber has changed from a first location to a second location, instructing a first customer profile repository to transfer a customer profile associated with the subscriber to a second customer profile repository corresponding to the second location in response to detecting the location change, and provisioning the customer profile at the second customer profile repository.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure is related generally to provisioning subscribers in anetwork and, more particularly, to systems and methods to dynamicallyprovision subscribers in a network.

BACKGROUND

User provisioning in a communication network refers to the creation,maintenance, and deactivation of user profiles containing objects andattributes for defining and providing services used by a user. When anew subscriber is added to the communication network, a user profile isprovisioned with attributes relevant to the subscriber, such aslocation, services used, and/or level of service. When a subscriber'sattributes change, the corresponding user profile is also updated withthe attributes to provide efficient service to the subscriber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a map illustrating an example consolidated network repositorysystem.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a logical view of the exampleconsolidated network repository system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a data flow of an example method to dynamicallyprovision a subscriber in a network.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to dynamically provision a subscriberin a network.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example processing system that mayexecute the example machine readable instructions of FIG. 4 to implementan example interface layer, an example data management layer, an exampleconsolidated repository, an example home location register interface, anexample home subscriber server interface, an example RADIUS interface,an example standard interfaces, an example application data, an exampledata adaptation layer, an example subscriber manager, an example index,an example cache, an example regional repositories, an example equipmentmanagement system, an example operations support system/business supportsystem, and/or an example consolidated network repository system ofFIGS. 1-3, and/or the example systems and methods described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain examples are shown in the above-identified figures and describedin detail below. In describing these examples, like or identicalreference numbers may be used to identify similar elements. The figuresare not necessarily to scale and certain features and certain views ofthe figures may be shown exaggerated in scale or in schematic forclarity and/or conciseness. Although the following discloses examplemethods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture, it should be noted thatsuch methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture are merelyillustrative and should not be considered as limiting. Accordingly,while the following describes example methods, apparatus, and articlesof manufacture, the examples are not the only way to implement suchmethods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture.

The example systems, methods, and articles of manufacture describedherein may be used to reduce the traffic and expense associated withprovisioning subscriber profiles in a consolidated network repository(CNR) system. Provisioning subscriber profiles using previous methodscan be a time-consuming process and is generally performed only after asubscriber notifies a service provider that he or she has movedlocations. Unlike previous provisioning techniques, the example systems,methods, and articles of manufacture described herein automaticallydetect when a subscriber has moved locations from a region served by afirst regional customer profile repository to another region served by asecond regional customer profile repository that is part of the samelogical CNR as the first regional customer profile repository. In someexamples, when the system detects the change in location, the systemautomatically provisions the subscriber in accordance with predefinedcriteria, such as the time elapsed since the change in location and/ornetwork preferences in the appropriate regional customer profilerepository corresponding to the subscriber's new location. Additionally,the example systems may notify one or more network subsystems such as anIT system, a billing system, and/or a central subscriber manager thatthe regional customer profile repository in which the subscriber isprovisioned has changed.

In some examples, when a system automatically detects a change insubscriber location from the subscriber's home region to another hostregion, a first subscriber manager that manages the subscriber's homecustomer profile repository causes the home customer profile repositoryto transfer the subscriber's profile to a host customer profilerepository corresponding to the host region. When the subscriber profileis transferred, the host customer profile repository notifies a secondsubscriber manager that manages the host customer profile repositorythat the subscriber profile has been transferred thereto.

The example systems and methods described herein increase the efficiencyof subscriber management within a CNR system. Further, relative toexisting provisioning techniques, the example systems and methods reducethe workload of information technology (IT) staff and network operatorsinvolved in implementing user provisioning. By automatically notifyingthe IT systems of a change in the location of a subscriber, the examplesystems reduce or eliminate the manual interaction with the large CNRthat was previously necessary to provision a subscriber in a newlocation. For example, the existing approach of manual provisioning of asubscriber from one location to another may take several months due tobacklogs in network operator workload. In contrast, the example systemsand methods may trigger substantially immediate provisioning of thesubscriber to a new location based on any appropriate criteria.

Additionally, the example systems and methods described herein canreduce the cost of operating the network by reducing or eliminatingtraffic that is generated when a subscriber's home CNR is in a differentlocation than the subscriber's current permanent location. When thesubscriber is in a different location, traffic (e.g., calls) requestinginformation from the subscriber's customer profile must be routed to thesubscriber's home CNR, which then reroutes the customer profile and/orthe information requested therefrom to the requesting entity (e.g.,server and/or location). Each request associated with the subscriber isrouted to the subscriber's home CNR in this manner, thereby causing asubstantial amount of extra traffic in the network, which can beeliminated by dynamically provisioning the subscriber at the new hostCNR as described below.

FIG. 1 is a map illustrating an example CNR system 100. The example CNRsystem 100 includes several regional CNRs 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110.While the regional CNRs 102-110 are implemented using different physicalrepositories (e.g., databases), the CNRs 102-110 are linked on a commonlogical layer. The example regional CNR 110 includes at least part of ahome location register (HLR) 112 and/or a home subscriber server (HSS)114, and is connected to an Internet protocol (IP) multimedia server(IMS) node 116 and a mobile switching center (MSC) 118. The otherregional CNRs 102-108 include similar combinations of HLRs 120, 122,124, or 126 and an HSS 128 and are connected to similar combinations ofIMS nodes 130 and/or MSCs 132, 134, 136, or 138.

The HLR 112 includes details of mobile phone subscribers that areauthorized to use a mobile phone system. The example HLR 112 includesmobile subscriber profiles used for serving mobile subscriberapplications and/or services. The HSS 114 is a user database thatsupports IMS systems that handle calls. While the HLRs 112 and 120-126and the HSSs 114 and 128 are traditionally separate subscriber profiledatabases, in the illustrated example, the data previously containedwithin the HLRs 112 and 120-126 and the HSSs 114 and 128 is integratedinto customer profiles in the CNRs 102-110. Thus, any networkapplication or service that requires customer profile data may query theCNRs 102-110 to receive the appropriate data.

The IMS node 116 facilitates calls when a calling IMS subscriber callsanother (called) IMS subscriber. For example, the IMS node 116 accessesthe CNR 102-110 to determine the IMS subscriber associated with thephone number (or other identifier) being called. If, for example, thecalling subscriber resides on CNR 110 and the called subscriber resideson a different CNR, such as CNR 104, the CNR 110 coupled to theoriginating IMS node 116 queries the CNR 104 coupled to the destinationIMS node 130 for call information associated with the called subscriber.The CNR 104 then locates the subscriber profile of the call and providesthe information to the CNR 110, which in turn provides the informationto the IMS node 116. The MSCs 118 and 132-138 are responsible forsetting up and releasing end-to-end call connections, handling mobilityfunctions such as handover, and performing charging and billingfunctions. As a result, the MSCs 118 and 132-138 also request customerprofile data from the CNRs 102-110 to properly charge customer accountsfor calls made via the IMS system.

While a few example servers are illustrated in FIG. 1, the CNRs 102-108may be communicatively coupled with other types of application serversthat require access to customer profiles. For example, customer profilesmay exist for any one or more of mobile voice and/or datacommunications, short message service (SMS) communications, multimediadelivery, digital subscriber line and/or optical Internetcommunications, digital and/or plain old telephone service (POTS) voiceservices, web hosting, virtual private network (VPN) communications,teleconference and/or multimedia conferencing, and/or any other types ofmedia and/or communication services for which customers may subscribe.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a logical view of the example CNRsystem 100 of FIG. 1. The example CNR system 100 includes an interfacelayer 202, a data management layer 204, and a consolidated repository206. The interface layer 202 presents an interface to applicationservers for requesting data according to different protocols.

The CNR system 100 may process data and/or queries from differentsystems having different protocols. To interface with different systemsusing different protocols, the example interface layer 202 includesdifferent interface and/or mapping modules 208-216. The mapping modules208-216 translate the different protocols and/or queries to a commonprotocol used by the data management layer 204 and/or the consolidatedrepository 206. The mapping modules 208-216 further map response and/ordata back to a protocol and/or format used by the requesting system.

The example data management layer 204 includes a data adaptation layer(DAL) 218, a subscriber manager (SM) 220, an index 222, and a cache 224.The DAL 218 receives queries via the interface layer 202 and determinesthe appropriate handling mechanism for each query. For example, the DAL218 may determine that requested data is cached by the cache 224 or mayrefer the query to the index 222 to determine the location of therequested data. The SM 220 provisions subscribers in the consolidatedrepository 206, the index 222, and/or the cache 224. For example, the SM220 may receive a new subscriber request from an IT system (e.g., theOSS/BSS system 238 described below) to provision a new subscriber,causing the SM 220 to provision (e.g., create) a new customer profile inthe consolidated repository 206. The SM 220 also determines whether asubscriber is to be provisioned at another region (e.g., anotherinstance of the consolidated repository 206). As described below, theconsolidated repository 206 may store the customer profile in multiplephysical locations for redundancy purposes.

The example consolidated repository 206 includes multiple regionalrepositories 226, 228, and 230, each of which may include one or morephysical repositories (e.g., databases). In the illustrated example, theregional repositories 226, 228, and 230 include redundant databasesdispersed among the respective physical regions and/or between physicalregions. When accessing the consolidated repository 206, applicationsfrom a 2G/3G/EPS network 232, a core architecture for real-time services(CARTS) network 234, and/or other application servers or networks submitrequests for customer profiles via the interface layer 202 and the datamanagement layer 204. The 2G/3G/EPS network 232 is a communicationsnetwork that provides mobile (e.g., wireless) communications service tosubscribers. The CARTS network 234 provides a framework for addingfuture services, which may access the CNR system 100 via the interfacelayer 202. The CNR system 100 serves the 2G/3G/EPS network 232 and theCARTS network 234 as a consolidated repository for customer profiles. Ifthe cache 224 does not have the requested customer profile readilyavailable, the index 222 determines whether the requested customerprofile is in a particular regional repository 226, 228, or 230 and/ordetermines where the customer profile may be accessed.

The CNR system 100 further includes an equipment management system (EMS)server 236 and an operation support system (OSS)/business support system(BSS) 238. The EMS 236 manages and distributes the CNR system 100including the interface layer 202, the data management layer 204, andthe consolidated repository 206. For example, the EMS 236 may generateperformance measurements of the CNR system 100 and redistributeprocessing among portions of the CNR system 100 to improve performanceif necessary. The OSS/BSS 238 includes the business and/or operationssystems that allow network operators to interact with, modify, and/orrepair the CNR system 100. For example, a customer servicerepresentative may access the CNR system 100 via the OSS/BSS 238 tomodify a customer profile to add, delete, and/or modify services for asubscriber in response to a call from the subscriber requesting thesame. Additionally or alternatively, network operators may access theCNR system 100 via the OSS/BSS 238 to perform updates and/or maintenanceto the interface layer 202, the data management layer 204, and/or theconsolidated repository 206.

FIG. 3 illustrates a data flow of an example method to dynamicallyprovision a subscriber 302 in a network 310. The subscriber 302 used inthe example described in FIG. 3 is represented by a mobile device thatmoves from a first geographic region 304 to a second geographic region306. The move is represented by a line 308 (also referred to herein asthe move 308), and both regions 304 and 306 are served by the examplecommunications network 310. The communication network 310 may beimplemented via, for example, the 2G/3G/EPS network 232 and/or the CARTS234 of FIG. 2. The first, or home, region 304, which is also referred toas a west region in FIG. 3, is served by an MSC 312. Similarly, thesecond, or new host, region 306, which is also referred to as an eastregion, is served by a second MSC 314.

The example CNR system 100 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes an exampleinterface layer 317, an example data management layer 318 that includesan SM 316 and an index 324, and an example customer profile repository320 that includes a data repository 326, and may be considered aninstance of the example CNR system 100 of FIG. 2 that serves the firstregion 304 of FIG. 3. The example CNR system 100 further includes acustomer profile repository 322 that includes a data repository 332, adata management layer 334 that includes an SM 338 and an index 340, andan interface layer 335, and may be considered an instance of the exampleCNR system 100 of FIG. 2 that serves the second region 306 of FIG. 3.

The example flow illustrated in FIG. 3 is described in combination withthe flowchart illustrated in FIG. 4, which is representative of examplemachine readable instructions 400 that may be executed to dynamicallyprovision a subscriber in the network 310 served by the CNR system 100.At some time after the example instructions 400 begin (e.g., after theCNR system 100 is implemented), the subscriber 302 moves from the firstregion 304 (e.g., the west region) to the second region 306 (e.g., theeast region) (block 402). As mentioned above, the example SM 220 or,more generally, the data management layer 204 of FIG. 2 detects that thesubscriber 302 is now in a different location. In the example of FIG. 3,an SM instance 316 in a data management layer instance 318 serving thefirst region 304 may detect that the subscriber 302 is in a differentlocation by determining that requests to the data management layerinstance 318 for the customer profile associated with the subscriber 302originate from another region (e.g., the second region 306).

At some time after the subscriber 302 moves, block 404 determineswhether the customer profile associated with the subscriber includes,for example, a network preference to prevent dynamic provisioning of thecustomer profile of the subscriber 302 to other locations (block 404).Not all moves by a subscriber 302 are permanent (e.g., such as movesassociated with vacation, business travel, etc). For example, thesubscriber 302 may travel often but may not permanently move homelocations. In such a case, the subscriber 302 may express a desire notto change the home location associated with his customer profile. If thecustomer profile has such a network preference (block 404), the exampleinstructions 400 may end.

Thus, the SM 316 monitors the subscriber 302 for conditions that mayindicate permanence of the move 308. In the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, ifthe customer profile for the subscriber 302 does not have a networkpreference preventing dynamic provisioning (block 404), the SM 316determines whether a time threshold has elapsed or another networkpreference is matched (block 406). For example, if the subscriber 302 isin the second region 306 for a duration of time exceeding a threshold(e.g., longer than a month), the SM 316 determines that the subscriber302 has permanently moved to the second region 306. In an example ofmatching a network preference, if the subscriber 302 uses a heavy amountof traffic from the second region 306, additional network traffic may begenerated between the regions 304 and 306 to serve the subscriber in thesecond, or new host, region 306 and, thus, the network 310 would benefitfrom dynamically provisioning the subscriber's customer profile to thesecond region 306. Alternatively, block 406 may determine whether othertypes of thresholds have been traversed (e.g., a number of servicesexceeds a threshold, a services usage exceeds a threshold). If thetraffic threshold has not been exceeded (block 406), control returns toblock 406 to continue monitoring the time and/or other networkpreferences.

However, if either the time threshold has elapsed or another networkpreference has been matched, (block 406), the SM 316 determines that thesubscriber 302 has moved to the second region 306 (block 408). Inresponse, the SM 316 instructs a local instance 320 of the customerprofile repository corresponding to (e.g., serving) the first region 304to transfer the customer profile associated with the subscriber 302 to asecond local instance 322 of the customer profile repositorycorresponding to the second region 306 (block 410). The local instances320 and 322 of the customer profile repository are logically implementedas part of the consolidated repository 206 of FIG. 2. However, theexample local instances 320 and 322 are implemented using differentphysical repositories and/or logical divisions of the consolidatedrepository 206. For example, the customer profile repository 320 couldbe implemented by the regional repositories 226 of FIG. 2, and thecustomer profile repository 322 could be implemented by the regionalrepositories 228 of FIG. 2.

In the illustrated example, the SM 316 accesses an index 324 in the datamanagement layer 318 to determine that the customer profile is in aphysical data repository 326 implementing the local instance 320 of thecustomer profile repository 320. The SM 316 sends an instruction 328 tothe data repository 326, which performs a transfer 330 to a physicaldata repository 332 in the local instance 322 of the customer profilerepository. The transfer may occur via, for example, the data managementlayer 318 serving the first region 304 and a data management layer 334serving the second region 306.

When the customer profile transfer 330 is complete, the new hostcustomer profile repository reports 336 the transfer 330 to the new hostSM 338 (block 412). In response, the new host SM 338 provisions thetransferred customer profile (block 414). For example, the new host SM338 creates the customer profile and associates the profile with theappropriate services in an index 340 in the new host data managementlayer 334 serving the second region 306. The new host SM 338 then sendsa provisioning notice 342 to one or more OSS/BSS systems 238 of thecustomer profile transfer 330 and provisioning (block 416).

The OSS/BSS systems 238 may include, for example, billing systems 344,IT systems 346, and/or a central subscriber manager (CSM) 348. Thebilling systems 344 determine the correct billing rates at whichservices should be billed to the subscriber 302. For some services,billing rates are location-dependent and the correct location is used bythe billing systems 344 to ensure the subscriber is not overcharged orundercharged by billing according to the wrong location rates.Previously, the IT systems 346 were responsible for provisioningsubscribers in new locations and notifying other systems (e.g., thebilling systems 344, the CSM 348) in the OSS/BSS systems 238 ofsubscriber information. Instead, the example CNR system 100 notifies theIT network 346 after automatically provisioning the subscriber 302 inthe new host customer profile repository 322.

The CSM 348 is in communication with the SM instances 316 and 338, andperforms, among other things, location indexing of the subscribers inthe CNR 100. For example, the CSM 348 may determine, based on aprovisioning notice, in what location in the CNR 100 a subscriber is tobe provisioned. When the IT system 346 receives the provisioning notice342 from the SM 338, the IT system 346 propagates the provisionedcustomer profile information to any additional systems (e.g., billingsystems 344, CSM 348) that may use the information (block 418). Theexample instructions 400 may then end with the CNR network 100 nowserving the subscriber 302 in the second region 306 using the associatedcustomer profile repository 322 and corresponding data management layer334.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example processing system 500 that mayexecute the example machine readable instructions 400 of FIG. 4 toimplement some or all of the example interface layer 202, the exampledata management layer 204, the example consolidated repository 206, theexample HLR interface 208, the example HSS interface 210, the exampleRADIUS interface 212, the example standard interfaces 214, the exampleapplication data 216, the example data adaptation layer 218, the exampleSM 220, the example index 222, the example cache 224, the exampleregional repositories 226, 228, and 230, the example EMS 236, theexample OSS/BSS 238, and/or, more generally, the example CNR system 100of FIGS. 1-3. The processing system 500 can be, for example, a server, apersonal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internetappliance, or any other type of computing device.

The example system 500 includes a processor 502 such as a generalpurpose programmable processor. The processor 502 may execute, amongother things, the machine readable instructions 400 of FIG. 4. Theprocessor 502 may be any type of processing unit, such as one or moremicroprocessors from the Intel® Centrino® family of microprocessors, theIntel® Pentium® family of microprocessors, the Intel® Itanium® family ofmicroprocessors, and/or the Intel®XScale® family of microprocessors. Ofcourse, other processors from other families are also appropriate.

The processor 502 is in communication with a main memory including avolatile memory 504 and a non-volatile memory 506 via a bus 508. Thevolatile memory 504 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic RandomAccess Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUSDynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) and/or any other type of randomaccess memory device. The non-volatile memory 506 may be implemented byflash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access tothe main memory 504, 506 is controlled by a memory controller (notshown).

The processing system 500 also includes an interface circuit 510. Theinterface circuit 510 may be implemented by any type of interfacestandard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB),and/or a third generation input/output (3GIO) interface.

One or more input devices 512 are connected to the interface circuit510. The input device(s) 512 permit a user to enter data and commandsinto the processor 502. The input device(s) can be implemented by, forexample, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball,isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

One or more output devices 514 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 510. The output devices 514 can be implemented, for example, bydisplay devices, such as a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tubedisplay (CRT), a printer and/or speakers. The interface circuit 510,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card.

The interface circuit 510 also includes a communication device such as amodem or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data withexternal computers via a network 516, such as an Ethernet connection, adigital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, acellular telephone system or any other network interface. The network516 may be implemented via the communications 2G/3G/EPS network 232and/or the CARTS 234 of FIG. 2, and/or the network 310 of FIG. 3.

The processing system 500 also includes one or more mass storage devices518 for storing software and data. Examples of such mass storage devices518 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drivesand digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

As an alternative to implementing the methods and/or apparatus describedherein in a system such as the device of FIG. 5, the methods and/orapparatus described herein may alternatively be embedded in a structuresuch as processor and/or an ASIC (application specific integratedcircuit).

At least some of the above described example methods and/or apparatusare implemented by one or more software and/or firmware programs runningon a computer processor. However, dedicated hardware implementationsincluding, but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits,programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise beconstructed to implement some or all of the example systems and/ormethods described herein, either in whole or in part. Furthermore,alternative software implementations including, but not limited to,distributed processing or component/object distributed processing,parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also beconstructed to implement the example systems and/or methods describedherein.

Although this patent discloses example systems including software orfirmware executed on hardware, it should be noted that such systems aremerely illustrative and should not be considered as limiting. Forexample, it is contemplated that any or all of these hardware andsoftware components could be embodied exclusively in hardware,exclusively in software, exclusively in firmware or in some combinationof hardware, firmware and/or software. Accordingly, while the abovespecification described example systems, methods and articles ofmanufacture, these examples are not the only way to implement suchsystems, methods and articles of manufacture. Therefore, althoughcertain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have beendescribed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limitedthereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all systems, methods, andarticles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appendedclaims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.

1. A method to provision a subscriber in a communication network, themethod comprising: detecting that a location of a subscriber has changedfrom a first location to a second location; instructing a first customerprofile repository to transfer a customer profile associated with thesubscriber to a second customer profile repository corresponding to thesecond location in response to detecting the location change; andprovisioning the customer profile at the second customer profilerepository.
 2. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprisingupdating at least one of an index or a cache corresponding to the secondcustomer profile repository.
 3. A method as defined in claim 1, whereindetecting the location change comprises at least one of determining thatcommunications corresponding to the subscriber are routed to the secondlocation for an amount of time exceeding a threshold, determining that anumber of services exceed a threshold, or determining that a serviceusage exceeds a threshold.
 4. A method as defined in claim 1, whereinthe first and second customer profile repositories are instances of aconsolidated network repository.
 5. A method as defined in claim 1,further comprising providing the customer profile to at least one of abilling system or a central subscriber manager.
 6. A method as definedin claim 1, wherein provisioning the customer profile comprises creatingthe customer profile at the second customer profile repository.
 7. Amethod as defined in claim 1, further comprising notifying a subscribermanager associated with the second customer profile repository.
 8. Asystem comprising: first and second customer profile repositoriescorresponding to first and second physical areas; a first subscribermanager to provision a subscriber in the first customer profilerepository, to detect when a location of the subscriber changes from thefirst to the second physical area, and to instruct the first customerprofile repository to transfer a customer profile associated with thesubscriber to the second customer profile repository in response todetecting the location change; a second subscriber manager to provisionthe subscriber in the second customer profile repository in response tothe second customer profile repository receiving the customer profile.9. A system as defined in claim 8, wherein the first and second customerprofile repositories comprise a plurality of physical repositories. 10.A system as defined in claim 8, wherein the subscriber manager updatesat least one of an index or a cache corresponding to the second customerprofile repository.
 11. A system as defined in claim 8, wherein thesecond subscriber manager notifies one or more network systems inresponse to provisioning the subscriber in the second physical area. 12.A system as defined in claim 8, wherein the first customer manager is todetect when the location of the subscriber changes by determining thatcommunications corresponding to the subscriber are routed to the secondlocation for an amount of time exceeding a threshold, determining that anumber of services exceed a threshold, or determining that a serviceusage exceeds a threshold.
 13. A system as defined in claim 8, whereinthe second customer profile repository notifies the second subscribermanager in response to receiving the customer profile, and the secondsubscriber manager provisions the subscriber in the second customerprofile repository in response to the notification.
 14. An article ofmanufacture comprising machine readable instructions which, whenexecuted, cause a machine to: detect that a location of a subscriber haschanged from a first location to a second location; instruct a firstcustomer profile repository to transfer a customer profile associatedwith the subscriber to a second customer profile repositorycorresponding to the second location in response to detecting thelocation change; and provision the customer profile at the secondcustomer profile repository.
 15. An article of manufacture as defined inclaim 14, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to updateat least one of an index or a cache corresponding to the second customerprofile repository.
 16. An article of manufacture as defined in claim14, wherein detecting the location change comprises at least one ofdetermining that communications corresponding to the subscriber arerouted to the second location for an amount of time exceeding athreshold, determining that a number of services exceed a threshold, ordetermining that a service usage exceeds a threshold.
 17. An article ofmanufacture as defined in claim 14, wherein the first and secondcustomer profile repositories are instances of a consolidated networkrepository.
 18. An article of manufacture as defined in claim 14,wherein the instructions further cause the machine to provide thecustomer profile to at least one of a billing system or a centralsubscriber manager.
 19. An article of manufacture as defined in claim14, wherein provisioning the customer profile comprises creating thecustomer profile at the second customer profile repository.
 20. Anarticle of manufacture as defined in claim 14, wherein the instructionsfurther cause the machine to notifying a subscriber manager associatedwith the second customer profile repository.